Johannes Crellius (Polish: ''Jan Crell'', English: John Crell; 26 July 1590 in Hellmitzheim – 11 June 1633 in Raków) was a Polish and German

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

Life

Johann Crell's father, Johann Crell Sr., was pastor of the church at Hellmitzheim, (today part of

Iphofen Iphofen is a town in the district of Kitzingen in Bavaria, Germany. It has a population of around 4,500. Iphofen is known for its rare complete medieval town wall and other historic buildings as well as for being a location of wine production. ...

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the German state of Bavaria, capital of the district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County is the largest wine producer ...

District), in Franken, northern Bavaria. His son Krzysztof Crell-Spinowski (1622–1680), and his grandsons Christopher Crell Jr. M.D. of London (1658-), Samuel Crellius (1660–1747) and Paweł Crell-Spinowski (1677-), as well as his great-grandsons in Georgia, United States, were all proponents of

Socinian Socinianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italians, Italian Christian theology, theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) an ...

views. Crellius moved to Poland at the age of 22, and quickly became known as one of the chief theologians of the

Socinians Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), unc ...

, also known as

Polish brethren The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called "Arians" or " Socinians" (, ...

. From 1613 he worked at the

Racovian Academy The Racovian Academy ('' la, Gymnasium Bonarum Artium'') was a Socinian school operated from 1602 to 1638 by the Polish Brethren in Raków, Sandomierz Voivodeship of Lesser Poland. The communitarian Arian settlement of Raków was founded in 1569 b ...

at Raków, of which he was the rector from 1616 to 1621. In 1630 he worked with Joachim Stegmann Sr. in the production of a German version of the

Racovian New Testament The Racovian New Testament refers to two separate translations produced by the Unitarian Polish Brethren at the printing presses of the Racovian Academy, Raków, Poland. Enyedi's "Preface to the Racovian New Testament" Christopher Sandius in his ...

Influence

Several of Crell's works were printed first by Rodecki and Sternacki at the printery of the

1602-1638. These and others then appeared as Vol.III-V of

Frans Kuyper Frans Kuyper (Latin: Cuperus) (1629, Amsterdam — 21 October 1691, Rotterdam) was a Dutch Socinian writer and printer. Life First a Remonstrant minister at Vlaardingen, he left the church on his objection to infant baptism. From 1663–1673 he o ...

's ''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant'' ("Library of the Polish Brethren called Unitarians") Amsterdam 1668 Crell also featured in Christopher Sand's bibliography and biographical collection ''

Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum The ''Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum'', or ''Antitrinitarian Library'', first published in 1684, is a posthumously published work of Christopher Sandius (English: Christopher Sand), an exiled Prussian Antitrinitarian in Amsterdam, who chronologica ...

'' (1684). These works were widely distributed being owned by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity— ...

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...

and other Enlightenment thinkers. Two of Crell's works were translated into English. First, ''A Learned and Exceeding Well-Compiled Vindication of Liberty of Religion'' (London: 1646). Second, ''The Two Books ... Touching on God the Father: Wherein Many Things Also Concerning the Nature of the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit are Discoursed of''. The first edition was published in Konigsburg (1665). A second edition was published in London (1691). It was re-titled ''The Unity of God Answered and Defended'', but with the exception of the title page it was identical to the first edition.Jasnowski, 61 Knowledge of Crell's works passed out of the later generations of English Unitarians. However

Thomas Belsham Thomas Belsham (26 April 175011 November 1829) was an English Unitarian minister Life Belsham was born in Bedford, England, and was the elder brother of William Belsham, the English political writer and historian. He was educated at the disse ...

is one of the Unitarian authors who had access to Crell in the Latin and he repeatedly cites Crell in his ''The Epistles of Paul the Apostle Translated, with an Exposition, and Notes'' (1822).

Works

* 1623 ''Ad librum Hugonis Grotii quem de satisfactione Christi...'' - on

Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...

. * 1630 ''De Deo et eius attributis...'' - on God and his attributes. * 1631 ''De uno Deo Patre libri duo'' - translated into English as ''The Two Books of John Crellius Francus on One God the Father'' * 1635 ''Prima ethices elementa'' - on the elements of ethics. * 1637 ''C. Vindiciae pro religionis liberate'' - on the freedom of conscience. * 1665 His works were published first (before Vol.I-II) as part of the series ''

Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum The ''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant'' or ''Library of the Polish Brethren called Unitarians'' 1665, 1668, 1692 (not 1656 as incorrectly listed in some catalogs) is a collection of writings of the Polish Brethren published by ...

'' by

in Amsterdam. ;Translations * ''A learned and exceeding well-compiled vindication of liberty of religion'' by Johann Crell * ''De la tolérance dans la religion ou de la liberté de conscience.'' Par Crellius. L'intolérance convaincue de crime et de folie. Ouvrage traduit de l'anglois. (French Edition) ;Misattributed * Hermann Cingallus ''Scriptura S. Trinitatis Revelatrix'' ( Gouda 1678) attributed by John Locke to Crell but Robert Wallace (Unitarian) reattributes to

Christopher Sandius Christopher Sandius Jr. ( Königsberg, October 12, 1644 – Amsterdam, November 30, 1680) was an Arian writer and publisher of Socinian works without himself being a Socinian. His name was Latinized as Christophorus Sandius, though his German name ...

* Icander ''Das fast auf dem höchsten Gipfel der Vollkommenheit prangende Dresden'', 1726 - a work by a Swedish architect on baroque Dresden with no connection to Socinianism, (cataloguing error by web-based reprint houses)

References

Jasnowski, Józef. "A Tentative Bibliography of Non-Literary Works of Polish Authors Translated into English (1560-1918)." The Polish Review 16, no. 4 (1971): 58-76.

External links

''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum'' online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crellius, Johannes 1590 births 1633 deaths 17th-century German Protestant theologians Polish Unitarian theologians Translators of the Bible into German 17th-century German writers 17th-century Polish writers German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German male writers 17th-century translators